Salt Your Way to Health

A Salt is any positively charged ion that has bound to a negatively charged ion. Nearly all minerals we use are in the form of salts, such as Magnesium Sulfate (Epsom Salts), Potassium Iodide, or Sodium Chloride (often called “Table Salt”). The focus of this post will be on Table Salt, referred to as salt going forward.

Excerpt from Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon:

With few exceptions, all traditional cultures use some salt. Isolated primitive peoples living far from the sea or other salt sources burn sodium-rich marsh grasses, and add the ash to their food. Salt provides not only sodium but also chloride, needed for the manufacture of hydrochloric acid, proper functioning of the brain and nervous system and for many other processes. The chloride component of salt also activates amylases, needed for the digestion of carbohydrate foods… Salt is a powerful enzyme activator. Those whose diets are composed almost entirely of raw foods, like the Eskimos, do not need much salt; but those who subsist on a diet composed largely of cooked foods, like the Chinese, require greater amounts of salt to activate enzymes in the intestines.

Natural foods that taste good are healthy. Natural salt is good for us, and this is clear because our tongue contains “salty” taste buds. In fact, salt is so critical to the proper functioning of our body that these flavor receptors’ primary purpose is to detect Sodium! This is our body’s way of incentivizing us to consume nutritious food, and minerals are an important group of nutrients.

While naturally occurring salt has always been a necessary part of a healthy diet, most of the salt found in grocery stores is not. Here are a few problems with processed salt:

• Natural salt is about 83% Sodium Chloride, where the rest is mostly Magnesium, as well as around 80 other minerals. Refining removes all naturally occurring minerals other than Sodium Chloride.
• Anti-caking agents, usually containing aluminum (a neurotoxin), are added.
• Since Iodine was removed during the refining process, it is added. However, Iodine in salt is only about 10% bioavailable, making it a very poor source. (The topic of Iodine is so important it will be a whole post, since the vast majority of Americans are deficient. This leads to issues with the thyroid, glandular cancer, and a host of brain issues like attention disorders.)

High Blood Pressure

Salt ranks high on the list of misunderstood foods. The modern system recommends minimizing salt intake because salt raises blood pressure. While this is not entirely inaccurate, it is not the root cause. Fluid follows salt. Increasing the amount of salt in the blood draws more fluid (blood) into the blood vessels, raising the blood pressure. However, your body is exceptionally good at regulating the amount of salt in the blood. So, just like the cholesterol misconceptions, eating a ton of salt will not lead to excess salt in the blood. This salt balance in your body has a crucial regulator: Insulin.

Insulin is perhaps the most important hormone to understand in regards to the modern health epidemics. It has many roles in the body, but for now think of it as the “building” or “storing” hormone. When you need to store fat or other nutrients, or build a biological structure, insulin sends the signal. Insulin is released in large amounts to process carbohydrates. It’s also released to process proteins, but only if insulin levels are already high. But, no insulin is released into the blood to process fats. Insulin, being the storing hormone, causes your body to retain salt. Chronically High Insulin Levels are what lead to elevated salt levels in the blood, and thus hypertension (high blood pressure).

Salt Away

Excerpt from Deep Nutrition by Dr. Catherine Shanahan:

The idea that most people need to watch their salt is a myth. If you have normal kidney and heart functions, then even on a high-sodium junk food diet, your body can deal with the sodium content. What your body can’t deal with is - you guessed it - vegetable oils and sugars. The low-salt message is actually dangerous, not only because it confuses people into thinking that salt is the enemy when it’s really these other toxins but also because, at least in my experience, more people get into trouble from not having enough salt in their diets than from having too much.

Low levels of salt in a diet are actually quite dangerous, at least in the long run. Anything less than about 3/4 teaspoon per day results in increased ‘all cause mortality’ (risk of death from anything). The less salt you consume, the higher your risk of death is. Remember, your body is incredibly good at maintaining homeostasis (balance), and the levels of salt in your blood are no exception. As long as you don’t eat processed food, which contains processed salt and other harmful fake sodium additives such as MSG, and don’t have chronically high insulin levels, you can’t eat too much natural salt because your taste buds will stop you.

You must be careful about the salt you consume though. Only use unrefined salt. This can be sea salt or mined salt. The difference in the source will determine mineral content, but any salt harvested with traditional techniques should be fine. Both Redmond’s Real Salt and Celtic Sea Salt are good options.